Whirlwind experience for Sens pick Noesen

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BRUCE GARRIOCH, QMI Agency

Stefan Noesen hasn't had a chance to sit back, take it all in and realize how his life has changed.

That will happen when he finally catches his breath.

Drafted 21st overall by the Senators last Friday in Minnesota, the 18-year-old didn't have much time to relax before jumping on a plane to Ottawa for the club's annual development camp.

"It still hasn't really kicked in yet," said Noesen Thursday at Scotiabank Place. "At the moment you get drafted, you really just want to seize the moment and you don't really think about everything your parents have done for you.

"After giving my parents a hug, I was kind of thinking about everything as I was heading up (to the stage). My mother was nearly breaking down in tears. Watching it on (video), there's a lot to think about. Everything has just been incredible."

Noesen's family has paid a high price to give Stefan a shot at playing in the NHL.

Mother Jamie and father Glen relocated from Plano, Tex., to Detroit when their son was 14 so he could play in the Compuware system. He needed to face better competition to improve.

That's also part of the reason the Senators liked him so much.

"I won a national championship (in Dallas) when I was 12. After we won that championship, we kind of sat down and talked with some of the Compuware players and it just seemed like the right decision to make," said Noesen.

Noesen said the arrival of the Dallas Stars in 1993 has raised the profile of hockey in the south.

"They created a bunch of leagues down there to allow people to learn and that's really helped grow the game of hockey," said Noesen, who started playing at age 3. "My dad was a basektball player and my mom played basketball a bit, so we had kind of had basketball in the family.

"The big sports in Texas were baseball and football. I tried playing both. I didn't really like it. Hockey just kind of stuck."

His decision to not go the college route was made easy by the fact the University of Miami at Ohio wasn't prepared to take a chance on Noesen immediately. He has spent the last two years with OHL's Plymouth Whalers.

Last season, he had 34 goals and 43 assists in 68 games.

"He's shown that he's a power forward type of winger who was willing to go to the net and had good skills," said Senators director of player personnel Pierre Dorion. "He made plays off the rush and he's got a really good shot. We believe he's going to be a guy that helps us win down the road."

THIS 'N' THAT: Nikita Filatov will leave Ottawa Friday to return to the Dominican Republic to rejoin his family for a trip back to his native Russia. Dealt to the Senators by Columbus last Saturday for a third-round pick, Filatov took part in the club's scrimmage at the Bell Sensplex Thursday night. Filatov will be back in mid-August to resume skating with veteran players in advance of training camp ... The Senators will take a run at Colorado Avalanche W Tomas Fleischmann and Minnesota Wild backup G Josh Harding on the free agent-market Friday. The Senators won't be that active.